TN govt to take Tamil to 10 Indian cities, 16 nations

Tamil Nadu government will facilitate learning of Tamil in 10 cities within the country and 16 foreign nations, including the USA, for the benefit of the Tamil people settled there, Minister for Tamil Culture K Pandiarajan informed the Assembly today.

Winding up the debate on demands for grant to his department, the Minister said the government would set up centres for learning the language in 10 cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Bhopal and Port Blair.

Similarly, such centres would come up in 16 countries, including USA, France, UAE, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mauritius, Reunion Islands, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa and Australia.

Such cities and countries have a significant Tamil population, and the effort is aimed at helping them learn, read and write the language easily. Syllabus and books needed for the task are ready, he said.

In Myanmar and South Africa, a course on Tamil culture would be conducted through the Thanjavur-based Tamil University at a cost of Rs 22 lakh for the benefit of young Tamil students, the minister said.

To match the Tamil pronunciation of the names of towns in Tamil Nadu, in English as well, a high-level committee would be set up in that regard and Rs 5 lakh would be allocated for it.

For example, the Minister, who also holds the portfolio of Tamil official language, said Tiruvallikeni, an area in Chennai, is called 'Triplicane' in English.

The effort is aimed at addresing such neighbourhoods with the same original Tamil pronunciation in English as well, he added.

Also, the minister made a slew of other announcements for the development of Tamil language.

Earlier, during the debate on Tamil development, the treasury and opposition (DMK members) benches vied with each other in listing out the initiatives taken by them for the growth of Tamil.